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NewsMedical Electronics and Device in Taiwan Forum 2017 Integration of Software and Hardware to Bring Multi-disciplinary Innovations in Smart Healthcare

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Medical Electronics and Device in Taiwan Forum 2017 Integration of Software and Hardware to Bring Multi-disciplinary Innovations in Smart Healthcare

2017-11-01

To promote medical technology and devices in Taiwan and share the latest global trends, the Medical Electronics and Device in Taiwan (MEDiT) Forum 2017 took place on October 25 and 26. With the theme “Multi-disciplinary Innovations in Healthcare”, this year’s forum invited participants from key institutions like Frost & Sullivan, Fujitsu, National Research Council of Canada, Qisda, and Advantech to share latest smart biomedical technologies and market trends. It is hoped that this forum can facilitate the much needed cross-field industrial integration. By utilizing Taiwan’s strength in ICT, industries can take advantage of the medical trends in aging societies across the globe, as well as entering the emerging medical device market to secure a spot in the global platform.

The Industrial Development Bureau at Ministry of Economic Affairs pointed out that biomedical industry now has a very crucial role in Taiwan’s 5+2 Innovative Industrial Policies. To promote innovation in the biomedical industry, Taiwan continues to reinforce the R&D investment in biotechnology innovation, develop pharmaceutical products for niche markets, and focus on systemized and intelligent medical devices, in the hope of making Taiwan the hub of biomedical technical innovations in Asia-Pacific. According to an official report on the 2017 biotechnology industry in Taiwan, the 2016 output value of the industry in Taiwan amounted to NT$315 billion, an increase of 5.5% from last year. The output value of medical devices, in particular, increased by 6.4% and reached NT$141.5 billion. If Taiwan can take advantage of its industrial clusters, it will be meeting the very lofty goal of NT$200 billion in medical device output value by 2020.

General Director of the ITRI Biomedical Technology and Device Research Laboratories, Dr. Chii-Wann Lin, stated that smart healthcare is a key development area in Taiwan, and we need to take advantage of our outstanding medical service and ICT sectors, to establish preventive, diagnostic, treatment, and caring platforms that cater to each patient’s needs. By consolidating software and hardware, Taiwan can become the innovation base of global smart healthcare by utilizing sensors and IT technology to build connections among devices as well as creating holistic medical device industrial chain with the Internet of Things (IoT), the cloud technology, and Big Data,.